Chapter 13 #2
Hobbling towards Finn, she stooped and started to pick up the blue and white pieces, fighting the urge to cry. About two feet away from the broken vase was the ceramic doorknob, fully intact and lying upside down. She reached to retrieve it and cupped the smooth weight of it in her palm.
It was in that position, crouched over the scene of the crime, the weapon of vase destruction in her hands, that she was found when the door was flung open to reveal Leanne and Jake.
‘There you are!’ exclaimed Leanne, looking at Finn as she stepped into the room. Jake was straight on his radio, advising that Finn had been located.
‘Jesus, what happened?’ Jake demanded, marching into the room behind Leanne and taking in the mess.
Violet was still crouched down, shards of the vase littered around her. Jake stood over her, face like thunder. ‘What are you even doing in here? And why are you off radio?’
Where to begin…
‘Um…’ Violet stood, brushing her hands on her trousers. ‘I—’
The stern look on Jake’s face nearly made her bladder give up entirely, and she squeezed her thighs hard.
What she had done was inexcusable, she knew that.
There could be no talking her way out of this.
Would he fire her in front of everyone, tell her to hand in her radio and leave, she wondered?
Or would he suffer her in grim silence all day, then take her aside on wrap and tell her not to bother coming to work in the morning.
She could hear the tremor in her voice as she started to explain. ‘You see, the door was stuck, and I tried—’
Finn stepped forward. ‘All my fault, mate,’ he said, smoothly. ‘I’m really sorry for the trouble. Really very, very sorry.’ He glanced at the shards of antique ceramic. ‘And the, uh, damage.’
Relief flooded through Violet.
The lines on Jake’s face softened, and he angled himself towards Finn.
‘I wanted to look in here,’ Finn was saying.
‘Violet came past and saw me and explained that this is off limits. She tried to steer me back to the green room, but I was just fascinated by, uh, by this….’ Violet watched as his eyes flicked around the room, skipping from object to object.
‘This bed.’ He gestured towards the four-poster bed with its rich turquoise embroidered drapes.
‘The… the bed?’ Jake said, his voice incredulous.
Violet ducked her head to hide a grin.
‘Uh…yes, the bed. I have always admired old beds.’
Violet looked on as Jake and Leanne stared at Finn, unblinking.
Jake’s mouth was hanging open slightly.
Finn swallowed.
‘You see, ever since I was a child and my mum took us to, uh, to… Chatsworth House,’ he began.
You could have heard a pin drop. ‘I was fascinated by, um, the different beds in the different rooms. What they…look like. You know,’ he waved his hands vaguely in the direction of the four-poster.
‘The different woods they are made of.’ His eyes flicked back to Violet, who was as fascinated as Jake and Leanne by this tale.
‘And the stories of the different historical, uh, people who stayed in them.’
Violet tried to smother a laugh and make it sound like a sneeze. Her bladder strained, and she sucked in a breath. Finn was still going.
‘And um….’
If Violet hadn’t been fighting the urge to pee, she could have relaxed and enjoyed this.
‘I wanted to take a look at the carvings. On the bed legs. In case they were symbolic.’ Finn jabbed a finger in the direction of the bed.
‘Violet came in to remind me that we aren’t supposed to be in here, and then the door blew shut.
’ Violet saw Jake glance in the direction of the closed window, but he said nothing.
‘The handle was broken, so we were stuck.’
Jake and Leanne were staring, seemingly lost for words. Violet mouthed ‘thank you’ at Finn. He winked at her, and she felt her cheeks warm.
Jake looked like a man with many questions, but he was nodding slowly. Finn’s story of a fetish for antique beds seemed to have been accepted. Jake looked at the smashed vase at their feet.
‘Fuck.’ He dragged a hand down his face. ‘This looks expensive.’
He glanced up at Violet, still holding the doorknob.
‘That was me,’ Finn said again, holding up a hand. ‘The handle was broken. I thought we could get it off and maybe find a way out, but it flew off behind me and hit that vase. I’m really very sorry,’ he said.
Violet had never seen him so contrite, even if it was all an act.
‘Okay, well, we’ll get this sorted out,’ Jake gestured to the room, ‘and I am sure insurance will cover the damage. Right now, we need you on set.’ He stood back for Finn to pass, and Leanne smiled at him and fell into step beside him in the direction of the drawing room.
As Finn rounded the corner, Jake turned back to Violet.
‘Never be without your radio. Not even for five minutes.’
‘Understood,’ Violet squeaked.
Violet counted to three once Jake had gone, then carefully placed the doorknob on the mantelpiece where the vase had been. Clamping her thighs together and thinking of arid deserts and barren wastelands, she speed-waddled her way to the toilets.
Ten minutes later, bladder blessedly empty and back on set, Violet tapped out a message to Finn. She could see him, standing to one side, getting his make-up touched up before another take.
Thank you for taking the blame, she tapped out. You didn’t have to. She paused for a moment, then added, It was your chance to get rid of me.
She saw the moment he received the message. A half-smile played about his lips as he read. He looked up, his eyes casting about the room for her, but she was hidden behind crew and rigging. She watched as he tapped into his phone.
Finn: In less than thirty minutes, I broke a chair, got thistles stuck in my arse, we both damaged a door, and you smashed an irreplaceable vase. If you got fired, who would be my partner in crime? Literally.
Violet felt a giggle spread through her as she read the message and pushed it down.
I will never tell anyone about how you broke that chair. We agreed that was a secret. Between us.
From her spot in the shadows, she watched him open the message and saw a grin spread slowly across his face. Watching Finn smile at her messages like that was doing something to her insides.
A few moments later, her phone vibrated in her hand, and she glanced down at the message on the lock screen.
Please don’t tell anyone you had to pick thistles out of my bum.
She smothered a laugh in the collar of her coat and fired back.
I won’t, but I can’t do anything about the fact that now everyone thinks you have a weird fetish about antique beds.
From her perch leaning against a panelled wall, hidden by several taller and broader crew, she saw him burst out laughing. Then he was ushered back onto set for the next take.
Wearing a grin that seemed to be fixed on her face, she slipped from the room and out into the spring sunshine to do the lunch run.